Villarreal v Real Madrid

On Thursday night, Villarreal host Real Madrid at the Estadio de la Ceramica, as the home side attempt to move out of the relegation zone.

Villarreal find themselves in the unfamiliar position of 18th place in the Spanish top-flight table, a point away from safety in the Spanish top-flight.

The Yellow Submarine have won just once in their last ten La Liga games. Last time out the home side drew 2-2 at fellow strugglers Huesca. The encounter was another high scoring one for Villarreal, with four of their previous five league games producing over 2.5 goals.

Villarreal’s usually solid home form has evaporated of late, as they have won just once in nine home games in La Liga. Their recent home games in the league have been low scoring, with five of their last seven games on home soil producing under 2.5 goals.

Real Madrid returns to La Liga action for the first time since winning the FIFA World Club Cup. Los Blancos are currently fourth place in the table, eight points behind league leaders Barcelona.

Prior to their trip to Abu Dhabi, Santiago Solari’s side had recorded three straight league wins, without conceding a goal. The three games were low scoring, all producing under 2.5 goals.

The European champions recent away record in La Liga has not been great, as they have won just two of their last seven matches on their travels in the top-flight. Their recent away games in the league have been relatively high scoring, though, with over 2.5 goals scored in three of their last four matches.

Team News

Villarreal look set to be without Mariano Barbosa, Miguelon, Bruno Soriano and Manuel Iturra due to injury. Real Madrid have no reported injury worries heading for La Ceramica.

Match Prediction

This clash could be a relatively close one, but I expect the visitors to emerge with a victory in a low scoring match.